The present invention relates to products that are derived from oil and meal extracted from corn having an oil content of about 6 wt. % or more.
Corn, Zea mays L., is grown for many reasons including its use in food and industrial applications. Corn oil and corn meal are two of many useful products derived from corn.
Commercial processing plants utilizing conventional methods for extracting corn oil from conventional corn separate the corn seed into its component parts, e.g., endosperm, germ, tipcap, and pericarp, and then extract corn oil from the corn germ fraction. Corn germ produced by wet or dry milling is processed either by pressing the germ to remove the oil or by flaking the germ and extracting the oil with a solvent. In both processes, because the germ was separated from the remainder of the kernel, many or all of the valuable components of the endosperm fraction are absent from the oil.
A corn-based feed product known as hominy feed is obtained from the dry milling process and is a mixture of corn bran, corn germ, and endosperm, and has a minimum of about 4 wt. % oil. Several steps including cracking, grinding, sieving, and blending are required to manufacture hominy feed and the resulting particle size of hominy feed is small relative to meal made by the extraction method described herein.
Industry and health advocates are continually in search of more nutritious products derived from corn, since products derived from conventional corn lack some desired nutritional components. Thus, there exists a need for improved products derived from corn oil and corn meal.
Finished products containing corn oil and/or corn meal obtained from conventional corn include, for example, cooking oil, animal feed, paper and paper products, numerous food products such as salad dressings, extruded and/or puffed snack foods, products containing corn sweeteners, cereals, chips, puddings, candies, and breads.
One aspect of the invention provides a nutritious animal feed comprising the corn meal remaining after extraction of oil from high oil corn having an oil content of about 6 wt. % or greater. The animal feed can comprise other nutritious products such as vitamins, minerals, high oil seed-derived meal, meat and bone meal, salt, amino acids, feather meal, and many others used in the art of feed supplementation. The animal feed composition can be tailored for particular uses such as for poultry feed, swine feed, cattle feed, equine feed, aquaculture feed, pet food and can be tailored to animal growth phases. Particular embodiments of the animal feed include growing broiler feed, swine finishing feed, and poultry layer finishing feed. Feed products can be made with the extracted corn meal that will have a higher relative percentage of protein and lower relative percentage of oil than similar products made with conventional corn.
Some embodiments of the invention include those wherein: 1) the corn meal has a fiber content of about 3%, a starch content of about 65%, and a protein content of about 12%, at a moisture content of about 10%; 2) the high oil corn grain has a total oil content of at least about 6 wt. %, at least about 7 wt. %, at least about 8 wt. %; at least about 10 wt. %, at least about 12 wt. %, at least about 14 wt. %, or from about 7 wt. % to about 30 wt. %; 3) the corn grain being flaked is whole corn grain or cracked corn grain; 4) the corn grain has been subjected to an oil extraction process such as solvent extraction, hydraulic pressing, or expeller pressing, aqueous and enzyme extraction; 5) the high oil corn grain has a total protein content of at least about 7 wt. %, at least about 9 wt. %, at least about 11 wt. %, or from about 7 wt. % to about 20 wt. %; 6) the high oil corn grain has a total lysine content of at least about 0.15 wt. %, at least about 0.5 wt. %, or from about 0.25 wt. % to about 2.0 wt. %; and/or 7) the high oil corn grain has a total tryptophan content of at least about 0.03 wt. %, at least about 0.20 wt. %, or from about 0.03 wt. % to about 2.0 wt. %.
A preferred embodiment provides a method of obtaining corn oil and solvent extracted corn meal (SEC) from high oil corn. The method provides steps of: 1) tempering the corn; 2) cracking the tempered corn; 3) conditioning the cracked corn; 4) flaking the conditioned corn; 5) extracting the flaked corn; and 6) removing the solvent from both the corn oil and solvent extracted corn meal. The method provides a greater overall content of corn oil and concentrates the proteins in the meal. Moreover, solvent extractable pigments can be removed from the SEC.
Another aspect of the invention provides a corn oil-based product comprising corn oil obtained by extraction of at least the endosperm and germ of high oil corn. The corn oil-based product can comprise other components such as vinegar, spices, vitamins, salt, hydrogen (for forming hydrogenated products), and water. The corn oil used in the products of the invention will generally contain a higher proportion of xcex2-carotene, xanthophylls or tocotrienol than similar products made with corn oil extracted from conventional corn employing conventional methods. The corn oil, used in the products of the invention, is generally produced by exposing the entire corn grain, the cracked corn grain or the flaked corn grain to extraction without separation of the germ from the endosperm. Therefore, the solvent-extractable nutrients present in the endosperm are extracted into the corn oil that has been extracted from the germ and endosperm. Products that can be made with the oil prepared as described herein include, but are not limited to, salad dressings, cooking oils, margarines, spray-coated food or feed products, breads, crackers, snack foods, lubricants, and fuels.
Other embodiments of the invention include those wherein: 1) high oil corn grain is cracked, conditioned, flaked and extracted with a solvent; 2) the high oil corn grain has a total oil content of at least about 6 wt. %, at least about 7 wt. %, at least about 8 wt. %; at least about 10 wt. %, at least about 12 wt. %, at least about 14 wt. %, or from about 7 wt. % to about 30 wt. %; 3) the corn oil is extracted by pressing cracked corn; 4) the corn oil is extracted by subjecting flaked corn grain to a solvent-based extraction process; 5) the solvents used to extract miscible or soluble substances from the flaked grain include all forms of commercially available hexanes, isopropyl alcohol, ethanol, supercritical carbon dioxide or mixtures thereof; 6) the extracted corn oil is provided as miscella; 7) the corn oil is refined by additional processing; and 8) the corn oil is extracted by subjecting flaked corn grain to hydraulic pressing and/or expeller pressing, aqueous and/or enzyme extraction processes.
A third aspect of the invention provides a method of using extracted corn meal in an animal feed ration comprising the step of: 1) providing an extracted corn meal prepared by at least flaking high oil corn to form flaked corn and extracting the flaked corn to remove a portion of the corn oil therefrom; and 2) including the extracted corn meal in an animal feed ration.
A fourth aspect of the invention provides a method of using an extracted corn oil in a food product comprising the steps of: 1) providing an extracted corn oil obtained by at least flaking high oil corn to form flaked corn and extracting the flaked corn to remove a portion of the corn oil therefrom and form the extracted corn oil; and 2) including the extracted corn oil in a food product.
A fifth aspect of the invention provides a method of using extracted corn oil as a feedstock in an oil refining process. The method comprises the steps of: 1) providing an extracted crude corn oil obtained by at least flaking high oil corn to form flaked corn and extracting the flaked corn to remove a portion of the corn oil therefrom and form the extracted crude corn oil; and 2) including the extracted crude corn oil in a raw material stream of an oil refining process.
A sixth aspect of the invention provides various methods of forming extracted blended meals. A first embodiment of this aspect of the invention provides a method of forming an extracted blended meal comprising an extracted meal obtained from high oil corn and one or more other oilseed meals, the method comprising the step of: 1) combining high oil corn grain and one or more other oilseed grains to form a grain mixture; and 2) subjecting the grain mixture to flaking and an extraction process to remove oil therefrom and form the extracted blended meal. A second embodiment provides a method comprising the steps of: 1) combining a cracked and conditioned high oil corn with another cracked and conditioned oilseed to form a conditioned mixture; 2) flaking the conditioned mixture to form a flaked mixture; and 3) subjecting the flaked mixture to an extraction process to remove oil therefrom and form the extracted blended meal. A third embodiment provides a method comprising the steps of: 1) combining a cracked, conditioned and flaked high oil corn with a cracked, conditioned and flaked other oilseed to form a flaked mixture; and 2) subjecting the flaked mixture to an extraction process to remove oil therefrom and form the extracted blended meal. A fourth embodiment provides a method comprising the step of combining an extracted corn meal with one or more extracted other oilseed meals to form a blended meal, wherein the extracted corn meal has been obtained by at least flaking and extracting high oil corn to form the extracted corn meal. A fifth embodiment provides a blended extracted meal product prepared according to any one of the above-described methods.
A seventh aspect of the invention provides a method of using extracted corn oil as an ingredient in cosmetic applications. The method comprises the steps of: 1) providing an extracted crude corn oil obtained by at least flaking high oil corn to form flaked corn and extracting the flaked corn to remove a portion of the corn oil therefrom and form the extracted crude corn oil; and 2) including the extracted crude corn oil in a cosmetic product. These types of cosmetics include but are not limited to lipstick and eye liner.
Another aspect of the invention provides the use of a corn meal in an animal feed or human food, wherein the corn meal is obtained after extraction of corn oil from whole kernels of high oil corn.
Yet another aspect of the invention provides the use of a corn oil in an animal feed or human food, wherein the corn oil is obtained by extraction from whole kernels of high oil corn.
Other aspects of the invention provide corn oil-containing and/or corn meal-containing products made by the processes described herein.
Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms and abbreviations used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention pertains. Although methods and materials similar or equivalent to those described herein can be used in the practice of the present invention, suitable methods and materials are described below without intending that any such methods and materials limit the invention described herein. All patents publications and official analytical methods referred to herein are incorporated by reference in their entirety. Additional features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description of illustrative embodiments of the invention and from the claims.